Читать книгу Codename - J. M. Cobb - Страница 7

Chapter 2

After an hour or so, Eli finally began grunting and slowly opening his eyes, hoping he just had an overactive dream, though once his eyes were open and he didn’t recognize his surroundings, he knew he wasn’t. He slowly sat up, trying to get his bearings before moving too much or to get up out of bed. Raiser had lain his head down on the table, hoping to get some rest himself as he spent the entire night driving them to the Order. Eli noticed him and began wondering how he let himself get in this predicament. He noticed a glass of water with a small piece of paper folded in front of it, which he got out of the bed and read.

“Go slow. Take it easy. We can talk when you’re ready, but Raiser will stick to you until then for your safety.”

He began wondering, assuming, it was a note from the man from last night. His thoughts began to run wild as he drank some of the water at his bedside, nice and cold and without ice as he liked it—though the lack of ice and perfect temperature did make him wonder if he was drinking real water or just someone using their power of water. What was real anymore? What was fake or someone’s powers, or was everything just in his head, and was he finally going insane? He couldn’t help but have the thoughts running through his head nonstop. His head began spinning again, so he sat back down on the bed.

“Raiser…I need to know who that man is and more importantly, how he knows that date.”

Raiser grunted slightly, raising his head slowly but keeping his eyes closed.

“Well, you see, Final, it is our job to keep track and tabs on any Beyohuman we find or can find. And that man is the one who keeps us all together, helps us through times like these you’re experiencing now. His name is Boss. My wife, I mentioned before, she, too, is a Beyohuman, Iris. She has sight of powers as Boss likes to call it. She can find any Beyohuman in the world as long as they’re using their powers. That’s how we found you so, though you were very reluctant to until now. I was camped out in your town for quite some time, missing home, missing her. But we are here, and now that you’re up, I can go see her.”

Raiser began rising from his chair, though Eli rose his hand, as to ask him to stop.

“That wasn’t an answer. So unless your wife can also read minds or see the past, she shouldn’t have had any knowledge of that day. Now tell me, how did Boss know, or I’m leaving.”

“So pushy…I can see why he wanted you with us so badly. Look, I want to tell you, but I believe it is best if he does. Better for both of you. If you’d like, I would be more than happy to go get him for you, and you two can talk it out. What do you say?”

Eli nodded, deciding to lay back down, stretching out on the bed.

“Yeah, I guess I owe him an apology anyways, huh?”

Raiser smiled then left the room. Eli sat alone with his thoughts for a few minutes until a knock on his door. Boss walked in without hesitation, the smile on his face as was before. He calmly sat where Raiser had, his hands in the air like he was being held up. Eli sat up from his lying position, ready to get some of the answers he felt he deserved.

“I come in peace,” he joked. Eli wasn’t laughing.

“You should honestly have a few more holes in you.”

“Don’t worry, Final. You can’t hurt me. I have a secret weapon. The only reason those men tried to tackle you was so you didn’t harm anyone else, yourself included, though I suppose they did, in fact, hurt you. Terribly sorry about that, though we do have the best ‘Hands’ around.” Boss busted out in laughter, thinking he had just made the funniest joke ever to be told. He tried holding it back as he saw Eli wasn’t in a laughing or joking mood.

“No, you see, it’s because the woman who healed you, her name is Hands, and she’s a healer. Get it? Well, I’m sure you have many questions—some that I’m not sure even I can answer, but some we both know I can. So let’s do a quick rundown, then the questions may begin, so we are on equal footing, yes?”

Boss’s entire demeanor then got serious, knowing how important this was for both of them.

“You got your powers right after the comet storm all those years ago, yes? Oh, and feel free to stop me if you’d like but only when I’m wrong. Let’s see. You were…seven or eight at the time, I believe. That part is a bit fuzzy, I must admit. Not all details we get are spot on but are close enough that we are okay with what we’re given. Anyways, not very long after, your father passed, cancer. I’m deeply sorry about that. I lost my daughter to it as well, though not brain like your dad. Hers was pancreatic. She was seven, just like you when you got your powers. This was…not too long ago for me. Almost fifteen years for you, yes?”

Boss didn’t look particularly old, so the fact he not only mentioned a daughter but also one who had tragically passed couldn’t have been easy.

“I’m sorry to hear that, though that doesn’t explain the extensive knowledge of me. I would be more than happy to hear about her, but please I need answers. I feel like, I, I feel I’m in a never-ending pit, and I just keep falling, and now the pit is telling me things about myself I’ve never told anyone in my entire life and never intended to. And I was nine. So yeah, almost fifteen years ago. Just wrong on my age.”

“I’m sorry, but on a sidenote, are you comparing my research to that of an endless empty pit? I was quite extensive with it, and honestly, I even impressed myself with it. Anyways, you’re right, and I would love to tell you about her. Laura, her name. But that, friend, is a conversation for another day. So after your father, your mother was next. One year to the exact date. Difference was, it wasn’t cancer. It was you. You got mad. It was an accident. I know, you didn’t know how to use your powers or even what they were. To go for so long alone, it must have been a nightmare of never-ending pain. I wish we could have found you sooner, but even we were not so lucky to have each other at the time.”

“Cool history lesson, the date. It is very specific, and I need to know how you know. Only three people knew, and one of them is me. The other two, my parents, have been dead for almost fifteen years.”

Boss rose from the chair, joining Eli on the bed, sitting next to him.

“Many believe Raiser can read minds, but he cannot, and I know the quickest way out of this would be to blame him, but he simply fogs the mind, not quite full-on control but can stagger it for a bit and completely wipe a memory or two in the process. With you, however, on one of the occasions he went to wipe your memory, one of the times you turned us down, he saw it, and he regrets it. And I don’t want you to get mad at him. Be mad at me for putting him in the situation. It truly is my fault, and I’m not sure how I thought this would go over or how I thought it would go over well, but I figured, you would feel more welcomed with this room over any others. I recently had it changed, specifically for you, once we found you, of course, though I must admit, you were playing quite the game of hardball.”

“What else? What else did he find when he went snooping through my brain?”

“Nothing, Final. I assure you.”

Boss placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him and be reassuring, though Eli was clearly angry.

“My name isn’t Final! It is Eliot King, and I go by Eli! You want a nickname? That is one! How can you people do this? You ransack someone’s brain, take the most important things away from them, get knowledge on them for reasons, I assume, of situations exactly like this. You had someone pick my brain apart, and you expect me to want to be here with you and help you with, well, whatever it is you want me for!”

“Final, please calm down. I know this is a lot, and trust me, I had no intentions of it going this way, and I meant no disrespect. Please let me show you. Let me show you the Order, show you who we are, what we do. I want you to understand that what we do is for the greater good of, not just Beyohumans, but all mankind. We are all human at the end of the day after all, right?”

Hesitant to listen futher, Eli tried to calm himself so he could. He saw the sheer number of people earlier, so he knew there was some truth to what Boss was saying.

“You promise, on everything you are, have, or will ever be, it was an accident?”

“Yes, Final. We never went looking for information, I swear. Raiser just didn’t want you to remember yours and his encounter, and his powers went a bit into overdrive, I suppose. That part, I honestly don’t know about. We don’t exactly have real doctors here who could look into something like that, and there aren’t specialists who could help us that we know of, so his power struggle is still a mystery.”

Eli shook his head in agreement, believing what he was being told.

“Okay. I’m in. Show me.”

Boss smiled, quite happy with the decision Eli made. They rose together, him motioning to the door, allowing Eli to go first, him right behind. There were people around, smiling, waving to them both—a couple of hello’s, hi’s, and even some how do you do’s. A woman came casually through the crowd, beautiful as could be, and kissed Boss.

“Final, this is Daze. She is the thing keeping me around,” he joked. She whispered something in his ear, a slight nod from him then a whisper back to her.

“She helps me run things and sends the teams out on missions and is second head to the Beyohuman finders. Lame name, I know, but we can’t always think up something clever. Now I know I said I would answer all your questions, and I promise, I will, but there is a very important matter I must take care of currently, so I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of your guardian.”

Boss and Daze went off to the front desk together as Raiser walked up to Eli, putting an arm over his shoulder.

“Young love makes you miss the olden days, ah. I’ve got you from here, Final. Tour and possibly if you’re up for it, a bit of training? It would be nice to see just how strong those beams of yours are, wouldn’t it?”

Eli didn’t seem too happy with the lack of information he actually got out of Boss, and he had a feeling Raiser wouldn’t do too much in that way either. He nodded to Raiser, a slight disdain on his face evident, though he quickly followed behind him. The basics of the Order was mostly just room and board for the Beyohumans who were there, some fighters, some scouts, and everything in between. What should have been the lobby or office had this been a normal motel was the base of operations essentially—screens covering the walls, newspaper clippings around them, and very few people taking care of all of it. Raiser and Eli walked past the front desk lobby/office-type building, and Eli noticed a bit of panic inside, though Raiser moved him along and continued on with the tour.

“Daze!” Boss yelled. “What’s going on? Where is Ranger? I need you to tell me everything now.”

Daze became teary-eyed with her response. “We lost contact with Ranger last night. This morning, we got some weird messages, really cryptic. No one has been able to get around it or through it. Also, Sweets took her team and went after him. And it’s all a big mess. I know I screwed up, and yes, and I’m scared. I need him back! I need them all back here safe!”

“How did this all happen? Sweets shouldn’t have been allowed out. We have been on lockdown for a few days now with recent events. Where was the last location he was known to be? I’ll grab Raiser and Pres, and I’m sure we—”

“The Black-Zone.” Daze cut him off, clearly afraid of what may have happened to him. “It was the Black-Zone, and I let him go. I knew what could happen, how dangerous it was, and I authorized it,” she spoke softly, the tears now running.

Boss quickly embraced her, holding her tight to his chest. “I will find your brother, I promise. I won’t return until we have him safe and sound, and you can give him your patented big sister beatdowns, and we can all laugh about this later.”

Boss called over the intercom to have Raiser, Loun, and Pres meet him up front, cutting short Eli’s time to tour and train. They quickly ran back to the head of the buildings, one other man already standing and waiting, Loun or Pres he assumed. A panicked Boss stood awaiting them, a crying daze stood by the doors.

“Raiser, Pres, and Loun with me. Daze runs things until I get back. No one is to step foot outside of these gates until we return. Is that understood? We have two teams MIA, and I’m not looking for a third.”

One of the men who he called for Eli recognized from last night, standing near Boss when they met. A car pulled up next to the three men, driven by who he could assume was the other one Boss called for, though Eli wasn’t sure who was who. Eli sighed as all the three men hopped in the car and left. He walked back to his room, though he stopped at the door as he noticed the woman from before, Daze, sniffling and wiping tears away. He wasn’t sure why she was so sad, though he didn’t like seeing it. She was smaller in height, had nice blond hair, and had a few freckles across her face. He nodded to himself, knowing it wasn’t his business, though as his door became opened, there she was, sitting on his bed. He looked back to the lobby, noticing she wasn’t there.

“So teleportation? Super speed?” he asked.

“When a lady is clearly distraught, you should know better than to stare at her. A proper introduction, I suppose, should be given. I’m Daze.” She had a sweet southern accent, one that Eli liked.

“I’m Eliot, though I go by Eli. I, uhm, shoot pulse-type beams from my hands. It’s pretty cool.”

He tried talking himself up, though she didn’t even look at him, her head still down.

“I can move in between space and time. I don’t go through dimensions or anything like that, so yes, teleportation would be the easiest way to describe it. Boss asked me to look after you, make sure you’re comfortable in his and Raiser’s absence. So what would you like to know?”

“Well, I guess, what’s going on would be a good start.”

She nodded.

“My brother, Ranger, took his team on a deep mission, one he shouldn’t have gone on, and I allowed him to. There is a specific town east of here, Brookswood. Outside of it is a small desert, and hidden in that desert is a small base full of people who want us dead. We call it the Black-Zone. Ranger and his team were our top scouts as he had a wonderful sight ability. The best way he described it to me, imagine if you could extend your eyes out of your head and stretch them far away, looking anywhere around them as you went. He could see far, really far away. It was only him and one other guy, Monkey, had a super extensive type of hearing. They were the perfect duo. There is no way anything bad could have happened to them, right? And now, Sweets, our resident sweetheart, has gone after him. They were really close. She was one of us, ya know? Like a little sister to us. Someone he could really help. Her team, Witch and Omni, is with her.”

Eli processed all the information she gave him—an evil organization, a missing brother, two teams at that—and she was just so calm about telling him.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. Surely, he wouldn’t have had to get too close to the Black-Zone with his sight though, right?”

“He could see far, not whatever he wanted. He surely would have had to enter the desert, and I’m not even sure where the building even is. I’ve never seen it.”

They both got quiet, Eli moving to the bed to sit next to her.

“What, what am I? I thought this was all a dream. I thought I was alone.” His tone dropped, like nothing in the world mattered anymore, like he had no reason left.

“You’re you. You are the Final, and sure, you may have been Eliot King at one point, but now you can feel it, right? You’re the Beyohuman we have been waiting for. All these years, we have been tracking them down, rescuing them, and you are the last one Iris has seen that we don’t already know of. You are literally the Final. We are a people who break the limits of reality, all special and unique in our own ways. We can protect you and train you, Final. You are us, and we are you. We need you. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

And there it was, what he needed to hear. Just like that, he knew he was home. He had found what he has been searching for all this time. His fears lessened and lessened. He and Daze spent hours in his room talking, learning, her telling him about the Order, him telling her about his life up until now.

“He found me, ya know? On his own. He knew what I was, just one look at me, and told me everything was going to be okay,” she said, referring to Boss.

“He took me and my brother in. No questions asked, and I fell in love with him almost immediately. I never believed in love at first sight or those stories about knights in shining armor, but when Boss looked at me, I knew my life was about to change for the better.”

She trailed off as lights began to shine through the window, a car pulling up. Eli and Daze quickly rose from the bed and ran outside to see the car Boss and company left in earlier as well as another. Out from the first car were a younger girl, late teens probably, and two men with her, assumingly Sweets and her team. No one got out of the second car immediately, though it seemed like that was enough for Daze. She dropped to her knees, screaming as loud as she could. She knew what happened. One by one, the men all got out of the car, Raiser holding someone in his arms, wrapped up in a blanket. Everything was silent to Eli like his hearing was gone. The moment was so surreal, like something in a movie, though it was real. Eli could feel these peoples’ pain, feel the heartbreak and anguish they felt. Boss rushed to her side. Daze quickly buried her herself into his chest. The two men who went with them helped Raiser get him into the lobby. People were moving out of their way, bowing as they went, paying their respects to the dead.